AN: Wow, we have a lot Carlisle groupies out there, don't we? I do get it, though, he's a total DILF. ;) So, I almost got this one posted in two weeks. I've already started on the next chapter, so hopefully it will go a little faster. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one—I put it Eward's POV since I know you much you all love that

EPOV

Bella was staring at me like a deer caught in the headlights—the image only exaggerated by her large, beautiful doe eyes. I knew she'd been checking out my father and I couldn't help but laugh because of it. Carlisle tended to have that effect on the female population; I was used to it. I couldn't really complain. I mean, he had after all passed those genes on to me and I had found myself the target of many a similar ogling, and I can't deny that for a few wild years I had shamelessly reaped the benefits. Besides, while there had been appreciation in her eyes when she looked at him there had been none of the heat I'd seen in a few of the rare unguarded times her eyes fell on me. I lived for the moments when she looked at me like that. I knew she wanted me. It was just a matter of breaking down her defenses.

And I thought I might be beginning to understand some of the foundation blocks that had built those defenses of hers. There had been a firm decisiveness in her voice when she had informed Mike that she did not date coworkers, which led me to believe that was her true stance and not just an excuse she used to let her admirers down gently (myself included). It also drove home to me how upward a climb I had ahead knowing that my being her superior would only make a relationship between us even more taboo than if I had only been another coworker. It presented a few hurdles for me as well, but I was prepared to jump over them.

I had a feeling that she'd had an experience with interoffice dating before—a bad experience. The way she had told Mike that it would only make things messy and complicated had sounded like she spoke from personal knowledge. There were other comments she'd made in the past as well, things I was just starting to put together. That ambiguous answer she'd given at her interview…

"…I can hardly understand what kind of personal reasons might have compelled you to leave such a promising atmosphere."

"The extremely personal kind, sir. The kind that I would rather not discuss but I can assure you are tremendously unlikely ever to be repeated."

Unlikely to be repeated. As if it had been a mistake of her own making. And then a similar statement just the other day in her friend's garage….

"…there are way too many complications and I never would have acted on it if I hadn't had too much to drink. It was a really bad idea and it's best not to ever be repeated."

But I think the most clarifying of them all was the one that Jake had let slip Friday evening. Bella's been through enough. He wasn't just talking about the lawsuit and charges she'd faced. Something had happened to her, someone had hurt her, and it was becoming glaringly obvious that it was someone she had worked with. I wish I knew who it was so I could break his face for crushing such a gentle soul and instilling her with so much distrust.

Even from what little I knew of Bella I could see that there was much more to her than just her outward beauty. Everything about her screamed kindness, intelligence, and loyalty. Who would want to slap that down? She drew people to her without even being aware of her appeal—Angela, Mike, Alice, Jake…just a few of the people who apparently adored her. Even my brother had come to me to sing her praises and he'd only just met her today. That was simply the effect she had on people. She was one of those rare people who shone from the inside out, and I had a feeling that the light now coming from her was only a glimmer of what she once was. I wondered that I hadn't seen it before. Looking at her now it was so obvious that she was fragile, broken, and I desperately wanted to be the one to make her whole again.

My father had almost finished summarizing the period progress report for the company and our own division. I'd completely missed the part where he outlined our goals for the next period and pointed out a few of our trouble areas that still need work. I shouldn't have sat Isabella so close to the front. She was a distraction which I could ill afford in the presence of my father, but I had seen her heading for the back row and hadn't wanted her so far away from me. Luckily I had already met with Carlisle this week and familiarized myself with the topics he wanted to broach in this meeting. I didn't want to give him any more reason to doubt my capability in this company. I was determined not to let him down again.

"I'll turn the floor over to Edward now. Please remember to hold your questions until we open for discussion at the end."

I cleared my throat and stood, tearing my eyes away from Bella so I could sort through my notes and reports. I gave a brief update of the department's current works in progress, emphasizing those of highest priority and reinforcing a few projected timeframes and deadlines. Several groans echoed through the room which I pretended not to hear.

I spent probably a good fifteen minutes highlighting a few of our accomplishments for the most recent period and outlining various ways I thought we could expand on those accomplishments. I glanced at Carlisle every now and then to try to gauge his reaction to the progress of the meeting so far but he was difficult to read just sitting casually back in his chair with his hands folded over his stomach. It made me a little nervous that he never interrupted to voice any of his thoughts or opinions. My father might be laid back but he was still a very driven and opinionated man, especially when it came to the company he had founded over twenty years ago.

I concluded by thanking everyone for all their hard work and turned to Carlisle so that he could open up the floor for discussion. He inclined his head, and I knew the look he was giving me. He wanted me to take over that part of the meeting as well. I had to repress my own groan of frustration. I did not want to have to field the questions and complaints that were about to be launched around the room but I resigned myself to it, not wanting to give the impression that I wasn't up to the challenge.

I sighed. "Does anyone have any questions or input?"

Half the people in the room began talking over each other. I raised my hand for silence and the outbursts faded first into murmurs and then finally down to nothing.

"One at a time, please."

For the next half hour I fielded asinine questions and childish complaints. Several times I struggled to come up with a response that would appease the crowd without actually giving in to their unreasonable requests. My hands twitched at my sides, wanting to shove them impatiently through my hair or pinch the bridge of my nose as I habitually did when my nerves were high, but I managed to stop myself before showing that kind of weakness. At these times I often found myself glancing back at my father, hoping he'd take the reigns from me and offer up some of his renowned diplomatic solutions, but he merely continued to sit back with that same blank expression. I wondered briefly if he was testing me.

Throughout it all Bella sat quietly, occasionally scribbling in her notebook. She seemed content to sit and listen rather than participate in the maelstrom. At least twice I caught her rolling her eyes at some of the more ridiculous comments, and my amusement at her reaction was just enough of a distraction to keep me from losing my patience. If it weren't for the occasional valid question or input I wouldn't have minded doing away with this portion of the meetings entirely. As it was I felt quite drained by the time the session was over, and I worried that a few of the more disgruntled employees did not seemed entirely satisfied with some of my responses. Carlisle surely could have done a better job of it, but I consoled myself with the knowledge that some people just couldn't be pleased—they were the type who weren't happy unless they had something to complain about

Carlisle finally called the meeting to a close and the volume level in the room rose slightly as people began talking amongst themselves and slowly making their way back to their offices. He dropped a hand on my shoulder as he stood and squeezed gently and I felt some of the tension ease out of my body. He'd done the same thing the first time I'd won a ball game, when I graduated in the top ten of my class, when I got accepted into Dartmouth. It was his gesture of approval.

"Well, son, you survived the assault. How do you feel?"

"Like I went ten rounds with Jose Cuervo last night and came out on the losing end."

Carlisle laughed and squeezed my shoulder again. "You held your own. Come up to the house if you're free tonight. You're mother is making her chicken tortellini."

I grinned. It was a running joke that it was my obsession with Mom's chicken tortellini that kept her restaurant afloat.

"I'll be there."

I turned back to see if Bella was still in the crowd and caught her staring in my direction. She blushed and dropped her gaze. Smirking, I rounded the table and caught up to her before she could flee the room.

"So what did you think of your first floor meeting? I noticed you were very quiet during discussion."

She blushed again. "Yes, well, that would be from my natural aversion to speaking in front of a crowd. I hate to draw attention to myself. But you were right about it being a bitchfest. I couldn't believe some of the things they were complaining about. They sounded like spoiled children. You handled it very well."

I raked a hand through my hair, cursing the nervous gesture even as I caught myself doing it. It was no wonder my hair was always such a mess.

"Thanks. I kind of wish Carlisle would have stepped in a bit there, though. It makes me nervous when he just sits back and watches."

I'd been following her as she slowly worked her way toward the door through the lingering crowd but came to a halt as she stopped abruptly and turned to me, her eyes oddly searching and intense. I wondered what she saw in my eyes to bring about such an intensity in hers.

"I'd say he does that because he's confident in you, not because he's testing you or anything. You don't have to prove yourself to him, you know. Anyone with eyes can see how proud of you he is."

I stared at her for a moment, utterly speechless. Very few people were aware of my severe phobia of disappointing my father. I thought I did a fairly good job of concealing it—even from the man himself—but in one short hour this woman had seen through my charade.

"I think maybe your eyes see more than most."

Bella frowned at me in confusion and I just shook my head and walked away, unnerved by the whole conversation. She'd ascribed her reticence to shyness. She didn't even seem to realize that in her silent spectatorship she picked up on the things that were overlooked by the casual observer. Not only had she figured out the source of a tension in myself that had gone unnoticed by everyone else but she had sought to reassure me. How did she not understand how truly amazing she was?

My stomach still roiling a bit from the strain of heading up the meeting and the unexpectedness of Bella's insights I passed up my own office and headed straight for Jasper's. He'd always had a way of calming me whenever I felt like things were slipping out of my control. (Yes, I was aware that I had slight control issues that had a tendency of preventing me from just letting go and enjoying myself. Impulsive was one thing I'd never been accused of being.)

I slowed as I neared his closed door, however, as I could hear raised voices coming from within his office. Or more precisely, I could hear one female raised voice overpowering Jasper's occasional low murmurs.

"…just singled me out for the sole purpose…away from EyeCorp! …meant something to you…way you kissed me…all that dancing…I let you dip me!"

My eyebrows drew together as I tried to piece together the significance of the sentence fragments that became audible through the door every time the woman's voice reached that impossibly high octave. I could only conclude that this was the woman that had him so bewitched lately, but I couldn't quite figure out what she would be doing here in the middle of a work day. Nor what Jasper could have done to have her so pissed off. In all my life I'd never known a woman to become angry or hold a grudge against Jasper. Even the ones he broke up with left with a hug and a smile. He just had a way making people feel good in any situation.

Feeling only a small twinge of guilt over eavesdropping I strained to hear Jasper's responses, but his voice was too quiet to make out any of the words. Her voice on the other hand…I frowned as I tried to recall what he'd said her name was. That bell chime voice sounded vaguely familiar.

"…oh, don't try that one…can't believe…to soften me up…"

My eyebrows rose as her voice reached a new level of volume and her next few sentences became unmistakably clear.

"And just so you know what you're missing out on I'll have you know that not only am I not leaving EyeCorp, but I can also bend my body into positions you can't even imagine. So you can just take your job offer and you dinner dates and shove it!"

The door swung suddenly open and my eyes nearly dropped out of their sockets when I came face to face with Alice—the very same Alice that I had met just days ago at Bella's apartment. Without even missing a beat she sent me a curt nod and brushed past me with nothing more than a "Good day to you, Edward" and I think she also muttered something about manipulative, jackass employees. I was still goggling after her, mouth hanging open, as she turned the corner and disappeared.

"Glad to know I'm not the only one she has that effect on."

I turned my head to an equally dazed looking Jasper.

"What just happened? She didn't look too happy with you just now."

"Oh, she's got a bee in her bonnet all right. The why of it is what I'm not so sure about."

I followed him into his office where he slumped into his chair and shook his head quizzically. I sat on the edge of his desk, picking up the autographed baseball he had displayed there and tossing it absently into the air.

"What'd you do, man?"

"I told her about my idea for opening up a graphics design department here. Told her how much I liked her work and how I thought she'd be perfect to head up the department."

"And she blew up at you?"

"She seemed to think that since I hadn't mentioned it before I was only courting her as a way of luring her away from EyeCorp."

I smirked. You can take the boy out of the South….honestly, who uses words like courting anymore? It always amused me that he'd spent the vast majority of his life in Portland and still talked like a nineteenth century cowboy.

"Was there any truth behind that assumption?"

He glared at me. "Of course not. I want her for myself as much as for the company."

"So why didn't you mention it to her before? It's been a week since your first lunch with her and I know for a fact you've been on the phone with her just about every day."

He shrugged. "At first I never had a good opportunity to bring it up." He smiled a little. "She tends to monopolize the conversation and it's a bit of a mind boggle to keep up with her shifts in topic. And then I was ruther enjoying getting to know her without adding the stress of work issues. I was hoping to more firmly establish our romantic relationship before broaching the topic of a work relationship. But then she showed up out of nowhere to surprise me here at work—come to think of it I don't even recollect mentioning where I worked—and anyway one thing led to another and I was telling her all about my ideas for the graphics department. Suffice it to say she didn't react like I had hoped she would."

"So what are you going to do now?"

Jasper intercepted the ball before it landed back in my hand, contemplating it for a moment. "Fancy footwork, my friend. Fancy footwork."

He glanced up at me, studying the expression on my face. I don't know what he saw there, since I thought I'd kept my face fairly neutral, but his eyes narrowed.

"You know something. Spill it."

How the fuck did he do that? "Let's just say that's not the first time I've met your unconventional lady friend. I might know someone who could help you out."

Jasper waited for me to go on, raising an eyebrow when I remained silent. "Well?"

"Just remember if I tell you this I'll expect you to pay me back in kind some day. If I ever need to call in a favor you use your connections to help me out."

"Okay, now I'm real curious. You know I always have your back, now tell me what you know."

"Well, it turns out your Alice is Bella's best friend. I met her Saturday morning when I dropped off Bella's jacket. Although I didn't know at the time that she's the one that's had you twisted up in knots lately. I'm sure Bella would be willing to help you sort out this misunderstanding."

"You don't think she'll just side with her friend and decide that I'm the scum of the earth?"

"No, she seems to care about Alice a lot. I think she'd want to see her happy. And the way she talked on Friday you definitely seemed to be making Alice happy."

Jasper's face split into a wide grin. If I hadn't known how stuck on this girl he was already that would have told me. I marveled at how hard and fast we both seemed to have fallen. Somehow it made the depth and suddenness of my own feelings seem more believable, knowing that Jasper was there with me. He started to spring out of his chair but I put my hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down. I chuckled a little at his impatient growl.

"Hold on a minute. Ten to one she's in there now venting to Bella. You go in there and Alice is just going to think you're trying to team up on her or go behind her back. I'd say give it at least a half hour before you head that way."

Jasper nodded, relaxing back into his chair. "You're right. Girls always go straight to their girlfriends when they're riled up. Do the man-bashing thing."

His ochre eyes fixed onto mine. "You're strung awful tight. This wasn't just a social visit, was it? You're over-analyzing your capacity within the company again. Believing you aren't up to snuff."

I sighed. Again, how does he do that?

"Carlisle had me lead the meeting today." I scrubbed my hands over my face. "Christ, I feel like they chewed me up and spit me back out alive today. I don't even remember half the shit I said to them, all I know is that I was two shakes away from breaking down and giving into anything they asked for. Hell, I'd have agreed to putting in a wet bar in the employee lounge, I was getting that desperate."

Jasper chuckled. "I'd have been up for that. Then I could stop hiding the whiskey bottle in my desk drawer."

I glared at him. "You better not actually have one there."

His grin neither confirmed nor denied it.

"Look, you have to stop holding yourself up to such high standards. The fact is that you did handle it without breaking down. You think Carlisle never feels frustrated or distressed around here? He just puts on a show of calm confidence and people gladly follow him without ever being aware of his nerves. I reckon they weren't aware of yours either. You're the one that sets that bar so high, Eddie. When are you going to realize it would take a superhuman to reach it?"

I grimaced. "Don't call me Eddie."

I acceded he wasn't far from the truth. It wasn't that I expected myself to be perfect, precisely, but it was basically a given that one day I would be expected to step into Carlisle's shoes and I didn't want to do anything that would damage the company my father had spent his life building. I'd be happy if I could even be half the businessman that Carlisle was. Hell, I'd be happy if I could be half the man that Carlisle was. There was no one that I looked up to more than my father….and no one that I more feared letting down. Again.

"You'll make a great CEO someday, Edward," Jasper said to me in all seriousness. "Everyone makes mistakes. That's how you learn. When that day comes I'll consider it an honor to work for you. But for right now you're not my boss so get your bony ass off my desk."

I chuckled, releasing the death grip I hadn't realized I had on my hair.

"What do you mean work for me? If I have to be a CEO someday I'm dragging your sorry ass up to the board of directors with me."

"God, no. Please don't put me behind a desk. The few hours I have to spend behind this one are enough."

"Yeah, well, I figure by then you'll be old and won't be able to get around as easily. You'll appreciate the inaction when your hip replacements are bothering you and your rheumatoid is acting up."

Jasper scoffed. "Partner, I'll still be running circles around you when we're 90 and confined to wheelchairs in the nursing home."

I smirked. "You couldn't even beat me in a race when we were twelve and you still had six inches over me."

"Perhaps not, but I could always take you in a wrestling match."

"You pansies going to get any work done today, or just sit around and compare dick sizes?" a booming voice asked from the doorway. "It's irrelevant anyway, since I got ya both beat."

I turned to see Emmett's large frame blocking the doorway. I smiled at his cheery grin. I still found it hard to believe that my big brother had tied the knot, but the constant smile on his face these past few weeks attested to his nuptial bliss (that or the fact that he was getting laid with great regularity but I already knew—with alarming detail and one vividly horrifying memory—that this had also held true before the actual wedding).

"Don't you have some harmless cars to tow?"

"Not if we're having a pissing contest in here. Twenty bucks says I can shoot it farther than either of you."

Jasper's eyes widened as Emmett actually started to unzip his pants. "Not in my office, man!"

Emmett cracked up as he rezipped his pants. "Dude, chill out, I was just messing around."

I just stood with my arms crossed, having known all along he'd never have gone through with it. Now had we been outside I wouldn't put anything past him, but he would never pull a stunt like inside our father's building. Especially since he'd then have to detain and report himself, which would actually be kind of hilarious to see.

"So, Eddie, Rose tells me you want to bone the new girl. Kudos, man, she is hot."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't call me Eddie, and Rose told you I want to bone her?"

"Well, technically she said you were hot for her. I added the boning part."

I growled. "Don't talk about Bella like that. It's degrading and she deserves a hell of a lot more respect than that."

Emmett raised an eyebrow. "Dude, you're serious about her."

"Make that head over heels, jumping on a couch, nuts about the girl," Jasper added.

I shot him a dirty look. "Thanks."

"It's like that?" Emmett interrupted. "Dude, that's awesome! It's about time you found someone. Mom and I were just—"

"It's not awesome. It's frustratingly complicated."

"How so?"

I sighed. Despite his body builder appearance and laid back attitude my brother was a surprisingly intelligent person, but he did have a tendency to oversimplify things. He didn't take time to consider things like complications or consequences. He never stopped to think a scenario through step by step and consider all the possible derivations. It was why I had always beaten him at chess. His motto was always take action now, deal with the aftermath later.

"First of all she doesn't believe in dating coworkers. Second of all I'm her superior. She works directly under me—"

"You want to work directly under you," Emmett snickered.

I continued on as if he hadn't spoken. "—and you know the company has policies against such relationships. One of us would have to transfer to a different department. I can't ask her to do that and I can't do so myself. Not only is this my main area of expertise, but we have no one else to take my place should I even consider transferring."

"I think you're making too big a deal out of this, bro. Company policy, my ass. Besides Mom and Dad the four of us own most of the shares in this company—we are the company. And you know Dad would make an exception for you. Your happiness is more important to him than office politics. We all know you're responsible enough to handle the conflict of interest."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Believe me, I'm aware of that and I've considered this from every aspect. Yes, Dad would make an exception for me but what kind of example would that set? That because of our name we're above the rules which govern the rest of the staff? It wouldn't be right and it could have some legal ramifications if anyone believed that another employee was receiving favoritism because of a personal involvement."

Emmett scoffed. "So, what? You're just going to give up? Sacrifice this opportunity with the first woman who's ever managed to shake up that iron control of yours because it's 'the right thing to do'?"

I studied the patterns on the ceiling before slowly lowering my eyes to Emmett's.

"No. I should. It would certainly be more fair to her since she's the one that would be more adversely effected by any negative reactions to our relationship, and she's flat out told me she doesn't want to become involved. Not letting go of it like she asked is probably the most selfish thing I could do. But I can't seem to stay away from her."

"For what it's worth," Jasper spoke up, "she has feelings for you too. I've seen the way she looks at you sometimes when she doesn't think anyone else is looking. She wants you but she's afraid. I don't think you're being selfish. I think she needs someone like you right now."

While Jasper's words did a great deal to relieve my insecurities, they did very little to appease my guilt. Maybe she did want me, and maybe I was right about her having been hurt in the past, but she already had Jake and Alice and people who cared about her. She had a support system. She didn't need me, but I could hope that she wanted me and that perhaps, with enough persuasion, she would allow me to become a part of that support system.

Jasper stood and brushed the creases out of his pants. "Well, I think enough time has passed. I'm going to go butter up a certain lady and see if I can't charm her into talking sense into another certain lady for me."

Bemused, I followed him out of the office and back down to the third floor. Emmett nudged me with his elbow.

"What's going on?"

I chuckled. He was as much a sucker for gossip as any woman I'd ever known.

"It's a long story, but this should be somewhat entertaining."

Bella, who was sitting behind her desk frowning over a manuscript, looked up as the three of his walked in. She glanced warily between us, her dark focus finally settling on Jasper as he offered her a wide, toothy smile. Emmett and I stood back and watched as we waited to see how susceptible she would be to all that southern charm Jasper was infamous for.

"Bella, darlin', did I ever thank you for that sage advice you gave me last week?"

Her lips curved into a knowing smile. "Mr. Cullen passed on the message on Friday. Was there something I could help you with today, Jasper?"

No, it did not escape my notice that she called him Jasper rather than Mr. Whitlock, but I held my tongue. Jasper seated himself across from her, steepling his fingers on top of the desk and leaning towards her imploringly.

"There is indeed something I was hoping you could help me with. A matter I hold very near and dear to my heart in fact."

She looked at him steadily. "Personally or professionally?"

Jasper returned the look just as steadily. "Personally."

"In that case I'd be glad to help. I'm meeting her for lunch in a half hour, actually. Perhaps we should start by telling me your side of the story."

"Bella, you truly are a bell. Let's get away from prying eyes," he suggested, tipping his head in our direction. Rising, he offered his arm. "Walk with me?"

Bella laughed and accepted it. She stuck her tongue out as she past the frustrated gazes of both Emmett and myself. Amused, I winked at her and watched with pleasure as the color rose in her cheeks. She turned her head and walked with Jasper down the hall. I grabbed the back of Emmett's shirt when he tried to follow.

"There's a reason Jasper wanted some privacy. If we're watching and snickering in the background she's not going to believe he's serious about Alice."

"This is about a girl?"

I smiled. "Isn't it always?"

"Well…wait, you mean Jasper actually screwed up with a girl? Man, this is epic! I never thought I'd see the day he'd have to crawl. Dude's always been able to talk his way out of anything. And here you are for once pining over a girl who actually doesn't fall at your feet the second you turn those pretty green eyes on her. I think the planet just reversed its rotation."

"Funny…hey! What are you doing?"

Emmett had walked around to the other side of Bella's desk and started pulling out drawers and rifling through her things. He looked up at me.

"What? Aren't you curious? You can tell a lot about a person by what they keep in their desk, you know."

"Those are her personal things, you can't just go snooping around. I mean it, Emmett, leave it alone."

He smirked at me. "What are you going to do? Call security? Come on, this stuff could give you some serious ammo for winning her over. She chews the same nasty ass kind of gum as you, by the way, and has a mad jonesing for Mark Twain. The complete works? Who reads that shit?"

"Emmett….! Really? She keeps that in there?"

Despite my strong moral objections to invading Bella's personal space I found myself joining Emmett to see if she actually did carry one of my gifts around with her. Curious, I picked up the book, noting that she was taking care to mark her place with one of those ribbon bookmarks with a cross shaped charm on the end rather than fold over the page corners. I was absurdly touched that she didn't want to crease the pages of this book. I flipped it open to her page. She was reading Connecticut Yankee. That was one of my own favorites.

I spied the notepad she had been writing in throughout the meeting and picked it up, my conscience once again cringing against this invasion but still not quite overriding my curiosity. When I'd gone up to her after the meeting I'd seen that she'd written more than a page, and I'd wondered what she could possibly have taken that many notes on. The first part of it surprised me. She'd written down all the plans and suggestions I'd made for new period, including her impressions of my ideas (which made me seem much more intelligent and confident than I had felt when I was proposing them) and her own expansions on them. Some of her ideas were really good. I wondered why she hadn't mentioned them during the meeting.

The second part of her notes made me smile. She'd named each person who'd voiced a complaint or suggestion, or written a brief physical description for those whose names she didn't yet know which was more often the case, and made a commentary based on their input. I struggled to contain my laughter as I skimmed through them.

Demetri—overly aggressive (raise your hand and wait for your turn, douchebag, and WTF would we need a fitness room for anyway? Aren't we supposed to be WORKING?); he needs to lay off the protein bars: remember to approach only with nose plugs

Bubblegum Blonde with the indecent neckline—way too happy, Prozac anyone? Did she seriously ask if there was going to be an inter-office memoir highlighting the key topics of this meeting? Does this girl have any brain cells? How did she even get hired? Not to self: direct all important work away from the airhead

Fashion disaster with the dreadlocks—asks somewhat valid questions but seems to pander to the bosses a bit; probably reliable for work related issues but tread carefully: brown-nosers have a tendency to be backstabbers

Garrett—provided some intelligent input, seems friendly enough; potential for good work relationship

Attractive blonde glued to Garrett's side—very outspoken and determined about getting the software upgrade (I can see her point); made some strong arguments, bet she's a good asset to the company; this is one I'd actually be willing to work on projects with

Lauren—already met and have renamed her BITCH (too bad she actually does put out decent work or we could upgrade that to Worthless Bitch); apparently buddy buddy with Bubblegum Blonde big surprise there; wants cameras in the bathrooms? What, "All the better to spy on you with, my dear"? Voyeuristic much? Don't leave your purse on the counter while you sneak off with one of the printing floor whores and nothing will get stolen out of it, Einstein

These revelations into the delightfully acerbic musings of Bella's mind were interrupted by Emmett's not so quiet muttering.

"I think this chick rivals you for the workaholic award, Edward, and that's saying something. That's about all she's got in here. No pictures, no diary, not even a magazine or one of those smut books. Nothing really interesting….Whoa, dude."

I glanced over to see what had caught his attention. My stomach dropped as I saw he was holding a bottle a Valium. Why would Bella need Valium? An image suddenly flashed through my mind of Bella in the restaurant looking white-faced and stricken. She'd seemed almost ill when she'd dashed off to the bathroom and returned much more composed, brushing the incident off. Fuck, she'd taken Valium that night! No wonder the wine had hit her so hard. You're not supposed to mix alcohol with anti-anxiety meds!

I literally had to work at unclenching my jaw. I was so angry that she would risk her own health like that, and the worst part was that I couldn't even fucking do anything about it because then she would know I'd been looking through her desk. But you better believe I was going to be monitoring her alcohol intake much more closely and looking for signs of how often she took the pills. I thought briefly about discussing this with either Jake or Alice but something told me even they weren't aware of this issue or else they'd never allow her near alcohol in the first place. She was keeping this to herself for whatever reason and I wasn't about to betray her secret.

"Dude, you don't think she's crazy do you? Like have a nervous breakdown pull out the machete type of—"

"Put them away, Emmett, we're done here."

"But aren't you even the least bit worried? Or even curious? I mean, if you're seriously considering—"

"I said put them away! We should never have touched this stuff to begin with." I looked him hard in the eye. "You're not to say a word of this to anyone, do you understand?"

"But, Edward—"

"I mean it, Emmett. Not a word."

He met my look for several long, tension-filled seconds before finally nodding and carefully putting everything back the way it had been.

"I won't say anything to anyone, not even Rose. But I still think you should be careful. I know anxiety's not that uncommon and most people using Valium are perfectly normal, but….just make sure she's stable before you get in too deep, okay?"

I merely nodded, not wanting to tell him that I was already in too deep. I knew for a fact there was nothing psychotic or even remotely dangerous (except maybe to herself) about Bella. Part of me wanted to strike out at Emmett, berate him for even suggesting that there was anything unstable about Bella….but the other part of me could not quite push out the image of her sitting all pale and shaking at our table. And yet a third part of me only felt more driven to get closer to Bella. It was becoming more and more obvious that whether she realized it or not she needed someone to take care of her, and I had a need to be that someone.

I thought of the book in her drawer and grinned as I suddenly became inspired by her love of classic literature. If she wouldn't allow me to express my own feelings for her then I'd express them through the words of her favorite literary heroes. Perhaps it was cheesy but…well, most women liked cheesy, didn't they? I was determined to erode away that wall she kept throwing between us. I wanted her to let me in, and what better way than through one of her passions?

I spotted a multicolor pack of sticky notes on her desk and quickly ripped one off the bottom. I ignored the curious look Emmett was giving me and silently gave thanks for my overly retentive memory as I scrawled the words of Austen's Darcy the first time he voiced his feelings for Elizabeth.

In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire you.

I thought it was a safe way of telling her how I felt without pushing her or asking for anything in return. I was letting her know that I wasn't giving up.

And I also hoped to get points for actually knowing the quote.

"Dude, you're such a girl."

I snorted. "Look who's talking. Aren't you the one I caught watching Gilmore Girls all by yourself?"

"I told you Rose had just been over! Besides, Rory is kind of a little hottie and she has a way awesome relationship with her mom."

I rolled my eyes and ushered him out of the office. We met up with Jasper for lunch and headed over to the Mexican place down the street. Emmett had wanted to go the diner but Jasper nixed that idea since it was where Bella was meeting Alice and he didn't want to mess up their game plan. Emmett spent all lunch trying in vain to pump Jasper for the details of his conversation with Bella, but he was being extremely tight lipped over the whole thing out of fear of jinxing it. Superstition was another thing he'd maintained from his Southern heritage.

I rushed us through lunch, anxious to get back in time to see Bella's reaction when she found my note. I wondered if she would be moved by it, amused, or just irritated with my persistence. Unfortunately I rushed us too much as I got back to my office and realized that there was still fifteen minutes until Bella was due back from her lunch hour. Frustrated and unable to focus, I spent the time pretending to work while my gaze flicked continuously towards the elevator doors. I felt like a giddy schoolboy waiting for the teacher to come find the apple I'd left on her desk.

Finally, at exactly one o'clock, I spotted her coming off the elevators. I abandoned all pretense of working and just watched as she approached her desk. I knew she'd found the note when she came to a short, sudden stop. I frowned when for a moment she didn't move and the bag on her shoulder slid slowly off to land with a thud by her feet. I was already coming out of my seat when she started to reach a trembling hand toward the note and then promptly collapsed on the floor.

Okay, that was not among any of the reactions I had anticipated.

With my heart in my throat I raced across the hall to drop next to her, checking for pulse and for injury before lifting her carefully into my arms.

AN: Seriously, what woman doesn't love being picked up by a pair of strong male arms? Too bad Bella's too out of it to enjoy it!

PS—Reviews really do inspire me to write faster (winky winky)